Member Sign In

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate but affiliated companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.

Will Agilent (A) Beat Earnings Estimates?

You have chosen to follow this author. You will receive an email notification when this author publishes a new article. Click submit to continue.

You are alredy following the Author

The Author could not be added at this time, please try again later. If problem persists, please contact Zacks Customer support.

Please Login

We expect Agilent Technologies Inc. (A - Analyst Report) to beat expectations when it reports fiscal second quarter 2014 results on May 14.

Why a Likely Positive Surprise?

Our proven model shows that Agilent is likely to beat estimates because it has the right combination of two key ingredients.

Positive Zacks ESP: Earnings Surprise Prediction or Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is at +1.39%. This is very meaningful and a leading indicator of a likely positive earnings surprise for shares.

Zacks Rank #2 (Buy): Note that stocks with Zacks Ranks of #1, 2 and 3 have a significantly higher chance of beating estimates. The Sell-rated stocks (#4 and 5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement.

The combination of Agilent’s Zacks Rank #2 and +1.39% ESP makes us very confident about an earnings beat on May14.

What is Driving the Better Than Expected Earnings?

Agilent’s introduction of new products and solutions (with higher margins), important acquisitions in areas like life sciences, genomics, diagnostics and wireless test markets are expected to lead to a positive earnings surprise in the upcoming quarter.

Moreover, Agilent’s recent acquisition of Electrothermal Analysis Technology from Gradient Design Automation will enhance its power to identify and solve thermal problems during integrated circuit (IC) development. Thus, the acquisition makes Agilent the owner of highly efficient technology that can solve an important industry problem. Thus, the deal is expected to be accretive to both margins and earnings.

The positive trend is also seen in the trailing four-quarter average positive surprise of 8.2%, which was greatly helped by the 1.5% surprise in the last-reported quarter.

Other Stocks to Consider

Agilent is not the only firm looking up this earnings season. We also see likely earnings beats coming from these 3 technology sector peers:

Top Zacks Features

Is it Time to Sell?

One of the most important steps you can take today is to set up your portfolio tracker on Zacks.com. Once you do, you'll be notified of major events affecting your stocks and/or funds with daily email alerts.

Zacks Research is Reported On:

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1986 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1986-2011 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly, an independent accounting firm.

Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.